Four Ways to Use the Sun
by Gater101
Summary: 4x400 word ficlet. Four ways to use the Sun. Team Ronon. Sheppard. Team Rodney. Sheppard/Teyla.
1. Antarctic Gales

_Antarctic Gales_

The winter sun was more chilling than the snow that was falling around them. Ronon had been to cold planets before but this, this was something else. Satedan winters had never been much cooler than their summers, a light frost touching ground for a few hours before dawn.

He couldn't believe there were places where three tees, two jumpers, a fleece and a snow jacket could not keep out the cold.

The others were equally as cold (with the exception of maybe Sheppard). Rodney had whined and whined until the chill had turned his voice chords to ice. Teyla had shivered in her not-so-warm cocoon until she'd huddled in on herself and her body had been unable to move. Ronon was still shivering and still grumbling while Sheppard simply sat staring out at the falling snow, his sun shades redundant in the pure sunshine that spilled from the sky.

"You actually used to live in a place like this?" Ronon asked again, watching the puff of air rise on front of his eyes.

Sheppard smiled and nodded, glancing quickly in his direction.

"Yeah." Ronon grunted and huddled further into himself, letting out a loud groan. "It's not that bad," John said amused, quirking the corners of his lips up again.

"Yeah, right."

"You sound like McKay."

Ronon glared at him.

"It's not whining when it's true," he retaliated. "Even Teyla wanted to complain."

John glanced to her again from his sentry post at the entrance to the small cave they'd found for shelter.

"But she didn't."

"Didn't mean she didn't want to."

Ronon sighed again and wondered why this only ever happened to their team. The Stargate's DHD had frozen over years before, the control crystal splitting apart from the coldness. Even Rodney hadn't been able to fix it.

And so they'd found shelter from the falling spheres of ice in a small – _tiny –_ cave, where the wood had been too wet to light a fire as they waited for Atlantis to contact them when they didn't check in. He checked his watch; only four more hours until their check in time.

"John?"

He looked up when he heard Teyla's voice, turning his eyes to Sheppard again.

"Yeah?" Sheppard replied, turning to her.

"I'm cold."

Sheppard caught Ronon's eye and held it for a moment.

Sheppard moved towards her, wrapping his arms around her tiny body.

Ronon looked away.


	2. Californian Sands

_California Sands_

The sun dipped low over the horizon, tainting the once blue sky with an amethyst glow. The clouds were lined with gold, the silver glittering stars stunning him with their beauty.

He took a long breath, seeking to fill his lungs with the scent of the ocean once more, the sand falling from his grasp as he took large handfuls between his fingers.

This was his favourite spot in California. The sun beat mercilessly onto bronzing bodies during the daylight hours but at night the city seemed to come to life with a different kind of purpose.

He had sought the sands of California for this different beat; he had believed the vibrations would finally tell his heart (and his head) what it was he truly wanted to do. The answer seemed simple, but when he thought about it he couldn't quite get his head around it, too many different scenarios popping in and out.

He loved the ocean; it soothed him, the waves meeting the shore in a gentle swish, swish, swish. The sea breeze helped cool the heat the day time sun had shamelessly caused.

After spending so long in Antarctica, he felt he was owed some quality warmth. After all, it may be his last.

His mission to find this old City seemed suicidal, maniacal and he wondered whether he needed to call the psyches on the people he'd met not more than a day ago. General O'Neill had given him an ultimatum, one he'd been sure would be easy to fulfil.

But as the day had worn on, it had become more difficult. A journey to another galaxy seemed like an opportunity that couldn't be missed. And yet, he found himself unable to resolve himself of the fact he may never come back. He may never see the faces of his few friends, his ex-wife, his dog ever again. He'd never see a sunset like the one in front of him ever again.

He may not even live 'til the end of the week.

But there was something there, something coursing through his blood, telling him he had to go. It felt like a calling – it was sure as hell an act of fate that he'd been asked.

There was something waiting for him in Pegasus, he was sure of it.

He just wasn't sure he was man enough to claim it as his own.


	3. Maldivian Sun

_Maldivian Sun_

He hated the sun, he _really _did.

It burned his skin and frazzled his thinning hair. The sun block that had been applied earlier in the day was washed away with the sweat the sun's heat had caused and he was slick and slippery, his hands sliding from his face when he made to swipe at falling beads.

The others didn't seem to share his problem and he both resented and hated them for it. Lying in the direct rays of the sun, Ronon had fallen asleep, dreadlocks clasped behind his head, said head resting on his folded arms. The guy was practically _naked; _the passing women could not help but ogle him and Rodney growled to himself from his position in the trees.

Teyla had long since given up the sun-bathing act and had waded into the warm glittering seas, her bikini not hiding much from passing men's imaginations (or Sheppard's, for that matter). Rodney and Ronon had remained relatively unaffected by her stunning body, although Rodney hadn't been able to resist a quick up-down of her luxurious skin. That had earned him an ill-veiled glare from Sheppard, at which Rodney smirked.

Sheppard hadn't lasted long before he'd swam out to Teyla as a passing surfer had stopped to talk to her. Again, Rodney had smirked while Ronon had grunted and turned onto his other side. The Colonel had taken great delights and thumping past Rodney, kicking sand onto the his sticky body to which Rodney had grumbled about devaluing his level of UVA and UVB protection. Sheppard had rolled his eyes and shook his wet hair out all over him.

Rodney hated vacation; always had. And whose idea was it to allow Sheppard to show his _team _his father's holiday villa in the Maldives? Didn't the powers that be at Stargate Command _know _what that kind of sunlight did to a person's skin?

He grumbled again and looked around again continuing his mental inventory of his team mates when he realised he'd lost Teyla. Panicked slightly by the thought that she'd sailed off with a surfer, Rodney was shocked further when Sheppard turned slightly and Teyla came into view again.

Wrapped around Sheppard's waist was two very Teyla like legs, and in Sheppard's hair was two _very _Teyla like hands.

"Heh," he managed before shaking his head and turning away.

Maybe the Sun _was _good after all.


	4. Scottish Rain

_Scottish Rain_

A lone beam of sunlight streamed in the window and he blinked rapidly as it assaulted his sleepy eyes. Outside the window, the trees still whistled in the wind, the rain still falling from the sparse clouds, whipping at the leafy trees.

So much for his belief that the storm would pass overnight.

_That's how it happens in the movies_, he'd assured her and she'd simply raised an amused eyebrow before settling into the not-so-comfortable seat of his rented hybrid.

He should have known, by now, not to trust what happens in the movies because he'd been proved wrong too many times of late; it was not _just _Spider-Man who could scale walls and the pregnant woman did_ not_ always give birth in those types of situations.

He wondered how Hollywood had gotten it so wrong.

A laugh escaped him at that thought; saying that, Hollywood _did _believe the Americans single-handedly won the Great War alongside counterparts the Germenglish.

He opened the door and looked down to the mud covered wheels and realised that, yes, they were in fact still very much stuck in the dirt track road leading to his father's old get away cabin.

He sighed and banged the door shut, wincing when Teyla began to stir at the sound. He reached out to her and covered her hand with his own and she smiled for a moment before blinking up at him. He smiled as she looked up at him, her hair mussed from where she'd slept on it through the night.

"I see it is still raining." He nodded. "Not like the movies then?" He frowned at her and looked away, trying not to smile. "What shall we do now?"

He turned back to her and was caught by the way the overcast skies seemed to darken her eyes.

"It wouldn't be so bad if we just sat here for the rest of our vacation, would it?"

She studied his face to see if he was joking and he tried to reign in his desire to smile. She pursed her lips and looked around.

"Despite the beauty of our surroundings, John, I would not mind more space to move about."

"What do you need space for?"

And then she shifted over the gear stick and into his lap, easily, his arms coming around her.

"Oh..." He murmured, smiling happily as her lips came down on his.


End file.
